Could you post a picture of the china cabinet as it looks now??

This was my inspiration:

These are the kitchen colors:

The cabinet is NOT this Primary Blue, there is a lot more grey tone to it, took a bunch of pics but it is not coming out the true color.

I wanted it to look a little rustic, not too beat up, but if the paint is not perfect I am ok with that.

Thanks!

Have you considered using Milk Paint? It's a wonderful durable matte finish paint and they make a color called Slate that would be the perfect match for your kitchen. Since you've already painted once, you can put an additive into the milk paint that will make it stick really well. You could also burnish/buff the finish to reveal bits of the brighter blue underneath.

Check it out? It's amazing stuff and creates the most incredible velvety finish.

Here is a link that might be useful: milk paint

Here's a more detailed photo of a cabinet painted in milk paint color slate (provenance unknown, from Google image search):

Sorry to say this, but there is a difference in looking timeworn, rustic and beat up, and well, a slap dash quality paint job.

You needed to prime the cabinet before doing a top coat. Then sand that. Maybe even a second coat of primer. Then a top coat with Floetrol in it to help it settle out better. Then a second top coat. All using a better quality brush. Don't go back over an area after you've painted it once if it's starting to dry a bit. That's when you get those brush marks that drag up a little orange peel with them.

Sand this coat of paint smooth and assess how well it's sticking to the wood base. Without primer, it may not have very good adhesion. If it's coming off fairly easily in "chunks" when you sand, then you'll need to strip the whole thing and start over. If it lets you sand it to a fairly smooth level without having any peel off, then you can do a second coat of paint. If you prefer the whole thing to be a different shade of blue, then it'll be easier to just get a different paint that is more the shade you want it to be. The Floetrol will help it to go on smoothly. Wait for that layer to cure, and then you can glaze, if that's a look you like with a grey/blue glaze.

At this point, if you want the aged and distressed look, you can then carefully sand through some of the layers on wear points and/or knock it about a bit with a small chain. Then you can clear coat the whole thing with polycrylic to protect it.

Glaze is transparent so you need to get the base color you want before glazing. You can use the paint you already have and add craft paint until you get a color you like. Try some experiments with a scrap piece of oak to see if you like the results.

For the glaze, you should try a cool gray with some of the blue in it. Again, test the glaze before proceeding to make sure it doesn't look dirty. Use a light glaze on the flat surfaces and a little more in the corners.

Live_wire_oak, thanks for all the good advice about painting furniture. I am sure this is the way to get an exact and pristine finish. This is a $30 cabinet, and I might add the first furniture piece I have ever done. I have little children and only a few hours a day to paint and sand, while they are sleeping, otherwise, like last night, there will be little fingers in my paint!

I think the long and short of it is that I choose the wrong color!

I love the milk paint idea, and I think the slate color is very close to what I need, and it's not a color that I would pick "off the rack" but it goes, and it goes well. Have you used this finish in your home? Website says it shows fingerprints and watermarks, watermarks aren't so much of an issue, cabinet isn't near water, but the little sweet grubby hands that stir and chop with me in the kitchen might be!

Thanks for the great pic too circuspeanut!

Re. milk paint: the stuff is absolutely nontoxic (great for painting with "helpers") and very forgiving, unlike latex or acrylic paints. And it only has the faintest of odors. Get a bag of it (c. $10) at an art supply store and play around with it a little on some practice wood scraps. You can make it as thick or thin as you need.

I simply love it and after discovering it last year, I want to use it everywhere in my house. :-)
Here's a not great shot of a dresser (white, far left, stenciled) and a round mirror (far right, gray) that I painted with milk paint. The dresser was unfinished wood so the paint sank in a bit more, the mirror frame was resin so I mixed in the Extra Bond, which you will probably want for your project, unless you feel like sanding the whole cabinet down to fresh wood (!).

The milk paint folks make a clear coat that dries pretty quickly and will protect the finish well.

Another option (I seem to be the Coatings Queen here, erk) is something called PolyWhey which is polyurethane made with milk whey that dries in literally an hour and has absolutely no smell, and is tough as nails (I finished my wooden stairs with it). You can get it at Rockler woodworking or online.

Have fun!

A glaze can be made in several different ways, depending on how you want your final piece to look.
You can make a glaze using paint and water. With this method, you'll have to work quickly.
Or, you can buy a glazing medium and add your pigment to that, which will give you some open time, but you still have to work quickly.
Since there are not a lot of crevices, or places for the glaze to sit, I think an all-over glaze will be beautiful.
You can do this a couple of ways, as well. You can brush on with a chip brush, and have a strie-effect. Or, you can brush on and wipe off.
Your glaze will effect your base color, so if it's too bright now, it will be toned down. The amount of glaze will have an effect, too. A warm black glaze will get you closer to your inspiration pic. Perhaps combining mars black and sienna together for your glaze. Of course, experiment on a sample board for exact results. And, it's easier to add glaze then to subtract!
I personally prefer to add a protective finish on top of my glaze coat. There are many options for this from water-based, oil-based and even wax.